Tonight I made a duo of chicken wings, one with a dry rub and the other with a spicy, sweet and sticky sauce. I paired them with a duo of baby Bordeaux. I wanted to compare the Tempo D’Argelus Bordeaux 2020 vs Chateau Pedesclaux Grand Cru Classe (Pauillac, France 2019), both great values for Bordeaux.
I decanted one half of both bottles for 2 hours and the other half for 4 hours and also aerated them.
The Tempo Bordeaux had a lovely dark ruby color and is made up of 90% Merlot and 10% Cab Franc. After the first decanting, it had an off-putting earthy, mushroom, leather and mahogany nose that I didn’t quite care for. On the palette, it was kind of funky, with gamy flavors mixed with black fruit, dark plum, licorice and notes of mushroom, leather, and wood or mahogany. I rated it a 3.6.
After 4 hours of decanting, the Tempo became less funky and more cohesive and smooth. On the nose as well as on the palette it was more fruit forward with black fruit, plum, licorice, pepper and fig balanced with oak, vanilla, oak and chocolate with suble pepper notes. This highly tannic and young wine certainly benefitted from several hours of decanting and as a result, I rated it a 3.9.
Chateau Pedesclaux had a lovely dark garnet purple color and after 2 hours of decanting, it was more fruit forward than the Tempo. It is a blend of 72% Cab Sauv, 20% Merlot, 6% Cab Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. On the palatte and nose, notes of blackfruit, black raspberry, dark cherry, plum, oak, vanilla, cedar, leather, flowers, licorice, pepper, strawberry, cranberry and pepper. I rated this one a 3.8.
After 4 hours of decanting, I increased my rating to a 4.0 as it became more aromatic, smooth, balanced and luscious.
